Manchester United faced another disappointing defeat at home, losing 2-0 to Crystal Palace on February 2, 2025, at Old Trafford. The defeat marked their fifth loss in the last six home league games, continuing their poor form at the iconic stadium. Crystal Palace’s French striker, Jean-Philippe Mateta, was the hero for the Eagles, scoring both goals in the second half.
The result saw Palace move above United in the league standings, climbing to 12th place, while United’s slump left them struggling to find consistency. A positive run of three consecutive wins had briefly lifted spirits at Old Trafford, but Ruben Amorim’s men were unable to build on that momentum. The performance was marked by a lack of creativity and several defensive mistakes, continuing the issues that have plagued the team this season.
One of the key moments in the match was Amorim’s decision to start without a natural striker, leaving Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee on the bench. Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who had scored in a midweek victory over Romanian side FCSB, was tasked with playing as a centre-forward. Although Mainoo had a chance early on, his scuffed strike hit the post and the attack faded quickly thereafter.
Crystal Palace, who have seen an improvement in their form after a tough start to the season, lacked their usual creative spark in the first hour due to an injury to Eberechi Eze. However, the England international made an instant impact after coming on as a substitute. Eze’s free-kick found Maxence Lacroix, whose header hit the crossbar, and Mateta was quick to fire the rebound into the net, giving Palace the lead.
Things worsened for United when central defender Lisandro Martínez had to be stretchered off with a suspected serious knee injury. Palace sealed the win in the final minutes when Daniel Muñoz broke through United’s defense and unselfishly squared the ball to Mateta, who calmly added his second goal, taking his tally to six goals in five games.
In other Premier League action, Tottenham secured a vital 2-0 win over Brentford, easing concerns of relegation. Despite a makeshift defense, Tottenham kept a clean sheet with the help of an own goal by Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt and a counter-attack strike by Pape Sarr. This victory lifted Spurs to 14th place, putting them 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
